


The Blood of the Covenant

by Arathergrimreaper



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), All The Ships, Anal Sex, BDSM, Biting, Blood, Blood Drinking, Bloodplay, Bondage, Death, F/F, F/M, Knifeplay, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Resistance, Sex, Slow Burn, Unhealthy Relationships, Vaginal Sex, Vampires, Violence, War, Yuffie is 18 in this, all of them - Freeform, cloud and aerith do too i guess, hoo doggie the blood we shall have, i mean it gets unhealthy for a little bit, it takes a while before asgcz happens sooooo, it turns into a newt but it gets better, oh there will be blood, shhhh just go with it, so much blood, there's gonna be a lot of tags i fear so i will just add as i go, zack just has a lot of love in his heart okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:55:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arathergrimreaper/pseuds/Arathergrimreaper
Summary: Cloud Strife has dreams of exacting revenge on the monsters that left him and Tifa without family or a place to call home. Shinra wants to help him realize those dreams by training him as a vampire hunter. They seem genuine enough for Cloud, so there's really only two questions left to ask:Where did the vampires come from and why why WHY does Cloud keep falling for them?
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart, Cid Highwind/Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind/Shera, Reno/Genesis Rhapsodos, Rufus Shinra/Reeve Tuesti, Yuffie Kisaragi/Vincent Valentine, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 14
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeeeey!
> 
> Remember how I take forever to update those other two big fics of mine and rarely have time for working on anything new (or recent) as a result? Welp, I started another monster, but at least this one I actually plan on making long (the other two just kind of grew out of control OTL). To new readers who have not a single clue wtf I'm talking about right now, pay no mind to the man behind the curtain. I'm sure it'll be fine. Probably.

Cloud Strife is a pretty socially awkward guy. People always had mixed reactions to him growing up so it makes perfect sense that he's, what his childhood best friend fondly calls, 'prickly'. Turns out that volunteering for Shinra's infant SOLDIER program to become a world-renowned vampire killer would force Cloud to confront that 'prickliness' in ways he's never had to even consider before.

Case in point? Reno.

"Hey hey, buddy, where ya off to without even a ‘hello’?"

Cloud picks up his pace, but Reno is hot on his heels. A dog with a bone to pick, as always.

"Training." Cloud grunts without stopping or slowing down, hoping the threat of making him late and them both getting a dressing down will be enough to deter the conversation (read: interrogation) that has become a daily occurrence. From the moment Cloud set foot on the steps of Shinra's SOLDIER academy, Reno was there. Like a shadow, he follows Cloud _everywhere_ , trying to get him to open up about what exactly had made him sign on to the program. Unlike a shadow, though, Reno is _never_ quiet in the endeavor.

"Why ya running away? I just got a little question to ask ya. C'mon, Raincloud, don't be like that."

That is precisely why Cloud is running away. Reno has been asking the same question every day for the last two weeks: 'What made you leave Nibelheim?'

It is no secret at Shinra that every volunteer is there for just one reason. Sure, you get the boasters who claim they're in it for the glory, power, and money of the position. It’s all just a show to cover the deeper, darker desire of their hearts.

The reason they all came to Shinra is _revenge_.

Vampires are a recent development on Gaia. So recent, that no one is quite sure where they even came from. It’s always been obvious what they want, though. To drain the planet dry of every drop of blood they can.

Cloud had been just seventeen when _they_ came to town.

Four of the deadliest and most powerful vampires in existence—the Flock as they are often known since every single one of them can fly—they destroyed Nibelheim. Drained every person they could get their claws on and burned what remained. Cloud and his friend, Tifa Lockhart, are the only survivors of that horrifying night. Neither of them will ever forget it, nor forgive the creatures that stole their home from them.

Traveling around and performing odd jobs all over Gaia for a few years, they had heard tales of much of the same. Humanoid creatures appearing after dark and draining the blood of family members and friends. The vampires have even begun to outnumber the various other creatures that troll the planet, looking for easy prey and finding it. He and Tifa had been happy to keep moving, to try and build some kind of lives for themselves. They stopped in Midgar six months ago for work and they certainly found it. The city was crawling with opportunity they had had to fight to find anywhere else.

Then, only a month ago, Shinra had sent out the announcement.

The major energy supplier claimed to be as unsettled by the vampire rampage as everyone else and decided to put their money to good use in developing what they were calling the SOLDIER Project. A unit of paid volunteers that are given training and educated according to the most up-to-date intelligence on how best to slaughter vampires. If that wasn’t enough to convince Cloud, the company plans on enhancing the top trainees with mako to make them strong enough to take on even the toughest of leeches.

He couldn’t sign on fast enough.

Tifa isn’t happy about his decision, but she has the bar to look after and keep her occupied so it isn't like he's just ditching her to go play hero. Cloud had promised to send money down to her since Shinra’s paycheck is loads better than what Seventh Heaven rakes in on a _good_ night, but it did little to calm her fears.

“Cloud, we’ve already lost everything.” Tifa told him, tossing her rag down on the surface of the bar and burying her face in her hands when he revealed his plans to her.

“Right, so what is there left to lose?” he asked.

“For me? You.”

He smiled, despite the cheesiness of it.

“You’re not going to lose me. Quit worrying.”

“Cloud…”

“Look, it’s going to be fine. I’ll sign on with Shinra. Kill vampires. Make us some money. Avenge our parents. Easy.” he said, gently peeling her hands away to hold them. “It’s going to be fine, Tif, you’ll see.”

And, so far, it has been fine. All except for....

“You sure you’re not already on the injections? You are _fast_.” the redhead panted, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

“Reno, I told you to get lost.”

It’s Cloud’s lunch period and he usually tries to find a spot away from everyone else for it. Today, he opts for the roof of the training hall but again, in that uncanny way he has, Reno finds and corners him, mid-bite.

Reno is part of an elite subsect of Shinra, Cloud learned shortly after arriving. One known as the Turks and headed by the CEO of Shinra’s very own son, Rufus Shinra. That, more than anything else, makes Cloud suspicious of him. Rufus has never publicly agreed with what his father does and the SOLDIER Project is no different. There are even rumors below the plate that he is trying to get the whole thing shut down for some reason. Cloud has no clue why, but it’s enough for him to consider them enemies and ones he will _not_ be helping, even accidentally.

“Listen, ya little—” Reno snarls before reigning in the annoyance Cloud can see plain on his face, “I would love nothing more than to blow this tacky shithole and go get my own sandwich with my partner, but I can’t. You _not_ cooperating with me ain’t doing either of us any favors. So cut the crap and just answer the damn question already.”

Cloud chews as slowly and purposefully as a cow as he merely stares back into narrowed green eyes.

“Seriously?” Reno asks, planting his hands on his hips. “Not even a lie? Just something I can report back because I am _this_ close to getting fired and I _swear—_ ”

“Answer _my_ question first.”

That brings him up short. Reno just stares, frozen, before throwing his hands up in the air.

“Fuck, fine. As long as it’s not classified, whatever.”

“Why does your boss need to know why I came here so badly?”

Renos face puckers and Cloud has to shove the remainder of his burger in his mouth to keep from laughing.

“Now, see, _that_ is one of the classified things. Sorry.” he says, not sounding it at all.

“Guess you’re gonna have to start looking for new employment then.” Cloud tells him around the mouthful. He checks the time on his phone. Class in five minutes. “Or, you can tell your weasel of a boss to get off his lazy, pampered ass and come see me himself. Toodles.”

Cloud slides down the rain gutter pipe and is halfway across the lawn before Reno can even curse him out properly.

* * *

“So, what did you say?”

“Told him I’m not talking unless the big man himself decides to show up and left.” Cloud tells Tifa over the phone later that evening as he pours over his hunting habits notes.

“Dammit, Cloud.”

“What would _you_ have said, Miss Diplomacy?”

“Look, he said he would accept a lie, didn’t he? The last thing you need is Rufus Shinra and his goons beating down your door just to prove a point. I don’t understand why this Reno douche was sent to ask you specifically about what happened to us, but it can’t mean anything good so don’t push your luck or I’ll drag you back down here myself.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”

“ _Cloud._ ”

“It’s fine, Tifa. Can we just drop it? I’m tired.”

Her tone changes, but Cloud has known her long enough to know she’s forgotten nothing. “They’re working you pretty hard, huh?”

“You have no idea.” Cloud groans, his back and hips popping as he stretches in his chair. “Feels like my body and my brain were both wrung out to dry and now, I have homework to do. If I don’t fall asleep first.”

“Have they mentioned when they’re going to start giving you mako?”

Cloud taps his pen against the desk, nervously. That is the part that worries him the most about working with Shinra. Growing up near a mako reactor in Nibelheim had shown the substance to be unpredictable in its side effects and, depending on the dosage, he could end up dead from just one treatment.

“No, but they want us to be a certain weight beforehand. You know how skinny I am. It might take a while.”

“Still, it’s better to wait until you’re at optimum health to do it if that’s what it takes.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Look, I’m going to go, but I still think you need to just give Reno _something_ and send him on his merry way.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the next time we butt heads. That guy's relentless.”

“Happy to help. Get some sleep.”

“Sure thing, Mom.”

Tifa’s laughter-filled goodbye brings a smile to his own lips and Cloud hangs up after giving her his own. It is an old joke between the two of them with something of an iron-edge to it now they’re both orphans. Not that it really slows them down in what they have to do. Cloud had finally turned twenty months ago and Tifa will be nineteen soon. They aren’t scared, hopeless children anymore, he reminds himself.

He sets his phone down beside his notebook and turns to the far-from-scenic view outside his window. Shinra headquarters and the SOLDIER academy are housed in their own separate compounds, true, but the entirety of Shinra Corp sits smack dab in the center of _all_ the major factories keeping Midgar running. That means smokestacks and blinking lights on plain concrete structures as far as the eye can see, jutting up into the sky seemingly forever. For Cloud, it is a stark reminder that they are definitely not in Nibelheim anymore.

“Bed.” he mutters to himself, unable to concentrate on feeding schedules and vampiric pack strategy any more. Not for the first time since enlisting, he is happy he isn’t forced to share a room with anyone now. Turns out, nobody likes being woken up in the dead of night by his nightmares of home. Cloud had gone through four roommates before the housing department simply gave up trying to assign him one for the time being.

Sliding under the scratchy duvet after brushing his teeth, undressing, and turning out the light feels so good Cloud is sure he'll be out cold until his first alarm, at least. No dreams to speak of.

He has never been more wrong.

Cloud is surrounded by flame, the shrieks of dying villagers still managing to pierce the dull roar. Hissing, snarling shadows flit all about the outer perimeter, trying to get to him as well. Their bared fangs are bloodied and the coldness in their solid black eyes makes him shiver despite the heat licking at his skin no matter where he turns.

Another scream comes from behind him and Cloud whips around only to see Tifa, held in the grip of one of the creatures. Her throat’s been torn open. Blood sprays from her and stains the silver fur of the beast that holds her. It only laughs, pressing its mouth to the gash it made and draining her dry before Cloud’s eyes as he watches, trapped, in the fire that is beginning to burn him in earnest. He opens his mouth and tastes ash, his skin blackening and sizzling like charred meat as he reaches out his arms toward them.

Cloud wakes up screaming himself hoarse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hell, this has got to be some kind of record for me, personally, posting so often. I am very excited for this story, can you tell? Warning for high levels of OOC behavior tho 
> 
> Not a whole lot happens here but we learn some things which is always fun. Cloud probably doesn't see it that way though. Toying with having the next chapter in another perspective but we'll see.
> 
> Hope ya'll enjoy this. It's not beta read at all, but I will be rereading for errors and the like so. I need to get my ass back to work before I get yelled at. Also, I made a playlist that may or may not have some foreshadowing in it: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1OfJ7ezNUO1HfPRU38WcuL?si=RcL6kuB8RHqPmitwV0FhfA

After what he keeps referring to as the ‘Tifa nightmare’(easily his worst one), Cloud simply refuses to sleep. He studies, goes over his mistakes in combat training until his form and execution are near perfect, and he continues dodging Reno, but he does not sleep. Whenever he feels he’s about to drop off, he chews gum, paces, or does ten push ups. He can hide it easily from Tifa, since neither of them have the time or money to visit in person often. As long as he keeps his voice even and doesn’t sit while on the phone, he can come across as normal. If any of his teachers and commanders find his new behavior odd, they say nothing. Cloud is the perfect SOLDIER as far as many of them are concerned: dedicated, focused, and quiet. What’s to complain about?

“You look like shit.” Reno says without missing a beat on the sixth day of this.

“Oh, you’re still here?” Cloud asks, dropping his head into his hands and massaging his scalp. He knows his unruly, blond spikes are even more wild than usual, but the perpetual headache his sleeplessness has wrought means he keeps tousling them even more just to try and relieve it. He is in no mood for this conversation _again_.

“Mm, you were telling me something about how your country ass ran away to join the circus, but you were so ugly, even the clowns turned you away? I just wanted to hear the rest.” Reno tells him. He comes to stand next to Cloud, folding his arms on the railing surrounding the duck pond, casually. One of the few bits of green in this part of the city, Meteor Park is owned and maintained for the people who live and work in the industrial sector as a sort of everyday escape from the concrete and fumes. There are countless man made trails and ponds and even a small playground for the few children accompanying their parents going about their business on the upper plate. Cloud can usually only get away to the park for an hour at a time with such a full schedule, but it is the closest to a forest he is going to get in Midgar, so he’ll take it.

"Har har.” Cloud yawns, putting his middle finger up at him without turning around. If he hadn't been told from a disturbingly young age how _not_ ugly he is by everyone and their grandfather, he might just believe the redhead. As it is, Cloud is only not constantly swarmed by admirers because of his impressive death glares and the self-defense Tifa taught him. Tifa, herself? With the figure she has, she's never hesitated to toss someone out on their rear either. Cloud's certain their known aggressive tendencies are one of the only things that kept them out of sex work to get by after leaving Nibelheim. Netted them a lot of jobs as bouncers, though.

“Seriously, you should probably go see someone. Your eyebags are more like duffel bags at this point, Chocobo Boy.” Reno says.

"I’m fine.” Cloud snaps. He pulls his third can of coffee out of his pocket as he says this and can practically _feel_ the eyebrow Reno is raising in his direction as he pops it open. Clearly, the Turk has been watching longer than he's letting on.

“Riiiight. And I’m a twelve-year-old Wutian girl.”

“I already said I’m not talking to you so why are you here?”

“Yeah yeah, you want to talk to my boss. Well, today is your lucky day, Blondie.”

Cloud looks over at him, suspicious, can halfway to his mouth.

“Rufus Shinra is coming to visit dear old Daddy and wants to meet you after. If you weren’t just talking smack, that is. He sent me to relay the good news.”

Cloud nearly drops his coffee into the pond.

“What?”

“Yup.” Reno says, nodding. He looks completely sincere, which only causes Cloud’s heart to plunge further into his stomach. “He seemed kind of impressed that you would call him out like that, just between you and me. Then again, he might just decide to deal with you himself because he is going to be in the neighborhood anyway, so if you were bluffing before, now is a good-ass time to say so.”

Bluffing? Hardly. Cloud was one hundred percent serious when he said he would only bother addressing the Turks if Rufus brought his ass to see him first. This is, unfortunately, also the reason Tifa is going to suplex him off of Shinra Tower when she finds out.

“He give you an exact time for this meeting? I still have training today.” Cloud asks, trying to sound unbothered.

“Time is nine p.m. tonight.” Reno says, smirking like he knows, “Place is this tiny falafel joint off Mythril Avenue. Right by the Chocobo Coffee.”

“I...I thought that was a sex shop?” Cloud croaks out. He feels his cheeks heat and he tries to wash the blush down with a large swig of coffee, nearly choking on it.

“No, before that one. The one with the busted OPEN sign? Looks like it says ON instead?”

“That’s a separate store?”

“I know. I only saw it because I stopped in front of the sex store to tease Rude a bit one day. Guy gets so flustered by that kind of stuff, it’s hilarious.”

Cloud knows his pain, but keeps his mouth shut.

“Why there?” he asks.

Reno shrugs.

“Been a favorite of ours since I noticed it. All the out-of-the-way dives have the best food. It’s kind of in a basement and the owner likes us so you won’t be disturbed while you...chat.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Only if it needs to be, Spikes.”

Cloud sighs loudly and drops his head down on his arms. The coffee is doing very little for his energy. Or his mood.

“Will he at least give me clearance to get back on campus since he insists on meeting so late? If he even lets me leave alive?”

“Hey, whatever you might have heard about him, Rufus doesn’t kill without cause. Too messy, ya know? I mean he always has _us_ to clean up, but the man is trying to inherit so not a whole lot of killing planned from day to day.”

“ _That’s_ a relief.” Cloud drawls before draining the remainder of the coffee and tossing the can in the bin ten feet away.

“Niiiice, kid. You sure SOLDIER is what you ought to be doing? You’d make a fair Slashball player with an arm like that.”

“SOLDIER is _all_ I want to do.” Cloud is quick to inform him. If the Turks’ goal is to shut down the SOLDIER program, he can imagine the first stage as an alternative career suggestion. He’d seen enough cult documentaries to work that much out, no thanks to Tifa’s friend, Wedge. “I’m going to be the best damn hunter I can.”

“Uh-huh, and that would be because..?” Reno trails off, watching him carefully.

Cloud turns and starts back for the academy, calling over his shoulder,

“Tell Rufus I’ll be there.”

* * *

There is, in fact, a business between the sex store and the cafe, Cloud learns when he tugs open the door so close to the entrance of the former and doesn’t see lewd costumes and...implements. There is only a narrow set of concrete stairs leading down to a dimly lit vestibule and beaded curtain instead. Letting out a sigh of relief (he had dawdled in front for fifteen minutes, too embarrassed to try the door in case Reno was pulling a prank), Cloud descends into a truly tiny restaurant with chipped, but clean, tile flooring. Complex tapestries in rich colors with gold trimming adorn the walls and ceiling, creating an enclosed, homey atmosphere. There is a large menu board along one wall with accompanying pictures and a couple make Cloud’s mouth water. The smell wafting in from the kitchen does not help. At the low ordering counter sits a bored-looking teenager, flipping through a magazine with words in a language Cloud can’t read. She glances up at him dully before her entire face splits into an easy grin and she slides the magazine out of sight.

“Hi, can I get you anything?” she asks in perfect Midgarian. Cloud does not miss the way her eyes scan him up and down with interest and he fights down a snort. It’s not fair to make fun when she’s just a kid and doesn’t know better yet, so he elects to ignore it and orders the special that comes with the most variety since none of it is so expensive as to make him wince. He skipped dinner earlier, too nervous about what exactly this meeting will entail to try eating and it now feels like his stomach is staging a full protest. Cloud can do worse for a last meal, he supposes.

The girl jots down his order on a small notepad and flashes him another smile as she sashays into the kitchen. Cloud takes the time she’s gone to peer around a painted screen separating the lobby from the dining area. There is room for only three tables and two are currently occupied with people in black suits. In one corner seat is a less familiar, but no less famous, blond man dressed in all white. He rests his chin on his interlocked, gloved fingers and glares right at Cloud.

“You’re late, Cloud Strife.” he says boredly.

All the Turks’ heads snap up and around to look at him. Reno is the only one who seems glad to see him.

“I’m going to be a little later, actually. Waiting on food.” Cloud says.

“So are we. Sit.” Rufus orders. Cloud bristles at that, but does as he’s told and takes the seat across from the heir of Shinra as though meeting in a obscure falafel restaurant is something they do _every_ Wednesday. He would even find it funny if it was under different circumstances.

“So, you want to know why I came to the academy? To Shinra?” he asks Rufus as he rests his crossed arms on the table.

“Not exactly, Mr. Strife.” Rufus says. He reaches under his seat for something and Cloud tenses, half-expecting a weapon, but it is a simple black leather case. Rufus unlatches it and pulls out a yellow folder, which he then slides across the table to Cloud. Cloud just stares at it blankly.

“What’s this?” he asks.

“Oh, I think it’ll be perfectly recognizable to you once you open it and look.”

Cloud, heaving a deep sigh, picks up the envelope and unfastens it to pull out what appears to be pictures. Pictures of—

“Nibelheim.”

“Yes. Before and after.”

The fourth picture reveals exactly what the ‘after’ is. Charred houses standing unsteadily on scorched earth, with Mount Nibel in the background. The fifth is of a body, burned beyond recognition. The sixth is taken from high above the town. It looks like a smoking crater after a meteor strike. Cloud feels sick.

“Why do you have these?” he demands, glaring up at Rufus and blinking quickly to clear his suddenly blurry vision.

“You tell me, Mr. Strife.” Rufus says, lifting his shoulders and hands in a careless shrug. “From what my associates and I can gather, Nibelheim is— _was_ —nothing special. A mountain town out of the way of public view. The perfect place for my father to set up shop. Let me tell you something, when Shinra takes possession of a town, they do not give it up easily.”

“Believe me, I know.”

“Then why, pray tell, was it destroyed?”

“Why are you asking _me_ this?”

“Because you know something. You, or that lovely young woman below plate.”

Cloud’s heart stutters in his chest. He can’t mean..?

“You’ve been following us? This whole time?”

“Who do you think helped get you the loan for that bar? Or made sure your application to Shinra got pushed to top priority? I have had my eyes on the pair of you since the moment you entered this city.”

Okay, Cloud is officially _pissed_.

“Oh really?” he asks, voice dripping with venom, “what, is fucking with Shinra not enough for you anymore? You have to start wrecking the lives of individual people to piss off your dad now?”

“What? That’s not what this is about—”

“I don’t care what it’s about. I’m not telling you _shit_ until I get some answers.”

“Um, sorry?” says a small voice.

Both men’s heads whip around to see the teen from the counter standing there nervously, a tray with food-laden plates balanced on her shoulder.

"Just set it here. It’s fine." the Turk on Rufus’ side of the table, a man with long black hair, tells her as he taps the surface before him. He seems merely bored of the whole affair in Cloud’s estimation.

"Right." the girl awkwardly sets the dishes down and retreats for the rest.

“She forgot the pitas.” Reno huffs from his table as he leans around Cloud to see what they have.

“She’s coming back. Keep your shirt on. Or, at least, button it up,” the blonde woman across from the black-haired man chides, lifting a basket of shredded meat off the tray and putting it in the center of the table.

“Really wish you’d quit bossing me around, sugar. You being new blood and all.” Reno says scathingly.

“And I wish you had better fashion sense. We can’t always get what we want.”

“Enough, both of you.” the black haired man says. He levels his dark stare at Cloud, “What our intrepid leader is trying to say is we are aware that you and Ms. Lockhart are the only survivors of something completely devastating. What we don’t understand is _why_ the devastation was necessary in the first place.”

“Beats me.” Cloud snorts. “Why don’t you hunt down and ask the vampires that did it? They’d have better answers than we will.”

“Ah yes, the _Flock_. We have spoken to them as well—”

“Tseng.”

"If we are dragging him into this, sir, he deserves to know."

Cloud's irritation stalls a bit.

"'Spoken to them'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"For a would-be vampire hunter, you don't seem very smart."

"Elena."

"Well, he doesn't," the woman says just as the next tray arrives from the kitchen. Before Cloud can object, she and Reno have a little squabble over the pita plate, resulting in the bald man with glasses behind her confiscating the whole thing and distributing it out to each as if they are small children. Both murmur embarrassed 'thank you's and 'sorry's to the girl, who just gives a snicker and tells Cloud his food is up soon.

"We...are not making a very good first impression…" Tseng says stiffly, eyebrows furrowing at both of the younger two Turks. Cloud can not care less at the moment.

"You said you've spoken to them. The actual Flock? The fucking vampires that stole _everything_ from us?"

Rufus sighs through his nose and glares daggers at Tseng who doesn't seem the least bit phased.

"There is much you do not understand about the situation, Mr. Strife." Tseng says.

"Oh, I understand plenty." Cloud huffs, getting to his feet. "You're so desperate for power you're actually working with those _things_ now. Who'd have thought Rufus Shinra would stoop so fucking _low_."

"That's not—" Elena and Reno both interject.

"Mr. Strife—" Tseng begins.

"Sit. Down." Rufus says in a tone so cold, Cloud nearly takes a step back from him. Instead, he sighs and slowly, without ever breaking eye contact, sits. Rufus takes a moment of his own before saying,

"Speculations about my aspirations aside, what happened in your little backwoods town was no random act of bloodthirsty nature. It was planned, by Shinra, right down to the last barbecued farmhouse. You and your friend are the only two people who were there we can ask now."

Planned? Nibelheim being destroyed...someone _planned_ that? Even worse, someone in _Shinra_ planned it? Cloud furtively reminds himself who he is talking to before he has a complete breakdown.

"Nice try. There's no way." he says, glaring at Rufus' serious expression.

"'No way' that someone would want to destroy it or 'no way' that that person is Shinra?" Elena asked, her mouth full of lamb.

"No way, period. Why would Shinra want to destroy a town it already controls? One they get so much energy from? That's not even getting into how crazy it is that you think they would send vampires to do the deed. The vampires aren't Shinra SOLDIERS."

"Not anymore." Reno says in a singsong voice behind him.

"What?" Cloud asks, turning partway to look at him, incredulous.

"You think Shinra hasn't tried this private army shit before? Nah, you're just their new, and more importantly, _public_ prototype." Reno tells him smugly. "I mean think about it, Raincloud, nobody knows where these things even _came_ from. Then, practically overnight, they're everywhere? Terrorizing villages and driving more people to the city? Just like you and that bartender buddy of yours."

It just doesn't make any sense to Cloud. He and his fellow cadets are next? How could Shinra even make beings like…

"The mako." he says, the realization making his head spin.

"That was certainly a part of it, yes. After all, the beings we call 'vampires' were once humans, according to their own accounts of working for Shinra." Tseng says, forking a patty to stuff into his own pita and slapping Reno's grasping hands from the sauce he is sharing with Elena. "Experimentation with the most publicly accepted form of energy on the planet, hundreds of willing subjects, thousands of _un_ willing subjects, and untold amounts of money funneling into the project from the pockets of Shinra's elite to protect their assets? A perfect recipe for creatures whose origins cannot be easily tracked. If you aren't us, that is."

"I think he gets the picture. The question that now remains is what was at Nibelheim they wanted to hide before everything went south." Rufus says. "According to our intelligence, it was right after Nibelheim that those that had not been exterminated outright begin going rogue. There must be something we're missing."

"Try this, boss, then think. You know an empty stomach doesn't help with brainstorming," the bald man places a perfectly folded pita in a basket before him and Cloud's stomach gives the most unflattering roar imaginable.

Everyone freezes. Reno is the first to start laughing, though, and Cloud has never wanted to murder someone more. The corner of Rufus' mouth ticks up and he slides the basket to Cloud.

"Sounds like you need this more than I do." he says amid the giggles and snorts of the Turks.

"They _are_ taking an awful long time with your food." Elena says, her gaze soft and sympathetic as it lifts to Cloud's.

"I ordered...a lot." he admits, face hot and ignoring the basket pointedly. "I skipped dinner. Didn't really know what to expect of tonight."

"Did we blow your mind wide open or what?" Reno asks, nudging him with his shoulder. Cloud nudges him back so hard, he's nearly knocked out of his seat. The bald guy catches him, one-armed, without even putting down his pita.

"I'm not saying I believe you, yet." he says, eyeing each of them in turn. "It just doesn't make sense for Shinra to create a problem and then offer to fix it."

"Believe me, it makes perfect sense." Reno tells him, massaging his arm where Cloud shoved against it.

Rufus sighs and says,

"Almost a painful amount of sense, really."

Cloud is about to ask what he means, but a platter is placed down beside him and he's left speechless at the sheer amount of food on it.

"Enjoy!" the counter girl chirps, beaming at him and slowly making her way back around the screen.

"Whoa, you weren't fucking kidding." Reno says, giving a low whistle.

"Ooo, you got some of those fried banana things. They are so good." Elena says.

"You're not already being given mako injections are you? An increase in appetite is especially common with them." Tseng asks, eyeing Cloud with something like exasperation on his face.

"What? No. No, I'm not even out of my basic training yet," Cloud assures him, his hand hesitating over his dinner, unsure where to even start. "I need at least a year of studying too before I can take the exams that qualify me for my first dose. I also have to be a certain weight so I've been trying to eat more, I guess."

"If you're hoping to bulk up that way, I hope you have a contingency plan, kid." Reno says. "The original SOLDIERS are heavy-ass hitters. The Flock? Even more so. Top of their class. You're nowhere in their league even if you can go out in the sun."

Cloud stuffs a plain falafel patty in his mouth and glares at him, irritated, as he chews.

"Just stating facts."

"Reno is being a jerk about it but he's kind of right. I mean, knowing what you know now, you should probably quit Shinra and go home. They don't want you for anything good." Elena says and Cloud turns his glare on her as he swallows.

"I'm not going anywhere until every one of those Flock bastards is dead." he spits, snatching up some of the bananas next. "Whether they did it on Shinra's orders or not, they _destroyed_ my home. They _killed_ my mom. I have nowhere else to go and it's their fault."

Elena has the grace to look sheepish, but Tseng and Rufus merely appear thoughtful.

"If it puts your mind at ease, I don't think they were fully aware of what they were even doing." Rufus says slowly.

"What—?" Cloud demands, inhaling a piece of food. He starts coughing and there is a hand thumping him on the back while another offers him a small clay cup of some warm liquid. Cloud reluctantly accepts and drains it, learning it's a floral sort of tea. He didn't even see a pot anywhere, where—?

"Here, I'll pour you another." the bald man tells him, taking the cup from Cloud and refilling it before pressing it back into his hand.

"Thanks," Cloud croaks out, sipping this one much slower. His throat feels a little cut up, but when he's finally able to speak without gasping for air, he tries again,

"What are you telling me? They don't even _remember_ Nibelheim?"

"Oh, I didn't say that," Rufus says, the corner of his mouth ticking up again as he pulls the basket he offered before back to himself and digs into the pita, finally. He takes his time to chew in a way that makes Cloud feel he's being mocked then adds, "their recollections of that night are somewhat fuzzy and missing quite a bit. They even mention feeling out of direct control of themselves more than once. It's possible they were starved beforehand."

"'Starved'?"

"Yes," another long bite and chew pause, "of blood, Cloud. They get a bit more animalistic the longer they go between feedings. Although, I'm sure you've seen the results of that firsthand."

Cloud had, when he stopped to think about it. Something he tried _not_ to do as much as possible. The large, winged, furred bodies and black eyes. Needle-like teeth in maws more befitting of wild dogs than of anything that once called itself 'human'. Claws, instead of hands, slashing out at him as he ran to Tifa's house amid the carnage.

Cloud had only managed to fend them off with a burning tree branch he'd snatched up off the ground out of desperate fear. If Tifa's father hadn't locked them down in the basement before going out to look for more survivors, they would be just another pair of drained, burned corpses in the ghost town Nibelheim had become.

"'Starved' or not, I will avenge my town and my family. I may not know _why_ it was destroyed, but the Flock will regret doing it." Cloud swears, taking his time to actually build a pita instead of merely picking at his food. The damn thing ends up so stuffed he can barely roll it up, but he manages. Rufus looks at him, unimpressed, whether it's due to Cloud's stubbornness or his pita rolling prowess, he doesn't share.

"If you really don't know then we've nothing more to discuss," he says, reaching into his coat and pulling out a plastic Shinra card with green-blue etchings in it, which he hands to Cloud. "This will get you back into the academy tonight without penalty if you are dead set on this course of action. Know that this will probably not be the last time we cross paths, however. One day, you may even be working for me."

"Are you kidding me? He would suck as a Turk too." Reno laughs, but his usual antagonistic tone is missing and Cloud is shocked to realize he's genuinely kidding with him now. When the hell had that happened?

"Don't worry. I'm sure we won't have any problems as long as none of you get in my way." Cloud says, taking the card and sliding it into the pocket of his issued uniform pants.

"Well, he certainly has the mouth of a SOLDIER already," the bald man deadpans and Reno snorts into his own cup of tea in response.

* * *

It's as he's heading back from the restaurant, exhausted and full, that Cloud feels it: The weight of eyes on his back.

He thinks it's one of the Turks at first, just making sure he gets back, unaccosted. That notion is dashed when Cloud turns to tell them off and sees a formless shadow watching him from atop a lamppost, eyes red with reflected light from the street below.

Cloud about-faces and _sprints_ the rest of the way to the academy. The guard on duty watches him with nothing but suspicion as Cloud wheezes, hands on his knees. It takes three tries for him to get out the card Rufus gave him and show it to him, but the moment he does he is waved through imperiously and with stuttered apologies. Curious, Cloud looks the card over as he walks back to his dorm. It appears to be just a fancy business card, but Rufus' signature graces it along with his phone number underneath. They must have some sort of agreement if the guard pegged it as legitimate so easily.

That just leaves what Cloud saw downtown to contend with, which he really does not want to do. He jerkily keeps checking over his shoulder every few steps and a bird taking flight nearby almost gives him a heart attack before his hand finally comes down on the doorknob of his building and he wrenches it open, desperately.

It could have been a trick of the light, especially considering where he saw the...whatever it was did not have that much. A hallucination? He'd heard lack of proper sleep could bring those on, too. Is that what it is? He's keeping himself awake so, naturally, he's beginning to see things he normally wouldn't? That has to be it. Please, Gaia, let that be it.

His bed is an invitation that Cloud turns away from for his desk and the stack of unfinished essays on top of it once he's in for the night. Thankfully, he saved one can of coffee for this exact moment and yanks it from his fridge with shaking hands. Popping it open and taking a large swallow, Cloud can admit he doesn't feel more alert at all, but there is plenty to keep him awake tonight anyway. Homework, secret meetings he hasn't even decided to tell Tifa about, and black eyes tinged with red in the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! LEVEL UP!
> 
> What is going on my fellow hunker-downers? Quarantine got you down? The attempted coup of a...not-so-great nation...making you feel like there is literally no point to anything? FFVII Remake Part 2 taking 5 fucking evr to come out?
> 
> Well, have I got a chapter for you.
> 
> Zack Fair is a beloved bi disaster who drinks his respect women juice. I don't make the rules, I just tell lies on the internet. It is rather short, but it was a struggle to even get this much and I do not want to rush the plot more than I feel I already have. Enjoy!

Zackary Fair has been borderline _obsessed_ with humans since the night he no longer was one.

He misses the simplicity of it, he thinks. Being a vampire, while having its perks, proves itself much harder to maintain. He can't rely on regular food to sustain him anymore. Zack _loved_ food when he was human. No more sandwiches or noodles. No more ice cream. No more sunlight because it burns. As much as people expressed their concerns when he was younger about his attention span for such things, Zack always kind of hoped to be a dad someday. Now? According to his medical records, he’s sterile. Sterile, just as every other ex-SOLDIER came to be, following their final injection.

It's certainly hard not to feel like he got a raw deal sometimes. Especially when it wasn't even his choice to be a vampire in the first place. Zack never would have chosen something so extreme. At least, that's what he tells himself. He had volunteered for Shinra's latest pet project, after all. He volunteered because if he hadn’t, Zack would have been stuck in Gongaga his whole life, doing the same work as his father. He never would have traveled anywhere, never would have learned to fight, and he never would have met his amazing colonymates or his amazing girlfriend. Zack would have settled, like his parents and his grandparents, and likely would have never fallen in love at all.

He also certainly wouldn't be indulging in his most recent hobby.

Zack didn't _mean_ to start following the young cadet around, initially. He just got curious. After everything Genesis had reported back to him and Angeal following his weekly meetings with the Turks, how could he not be? A survivor of _Nibelheim_ is a big deal. He might not know anything about what their mission was or what was happening at the reactor at the time, but he had survived Zack and his colony being completely out of their minds with bloodlust. That means something, Zack is sure.

It doesn’t help that the first thing Zack notices about Cloud’s profile photo is he is utterly, mind-meltingly gorgeous.

So Zack follows and he watches. After the first night, when he is spotted, he is much more mindful of finding cover and waiting until his quarry is distracted with something else before moving. Most of his watching is done right outside the window of Cloud's room after Zack shadows him home from the training facilities of Shinra's sprawling canvas.

Cloud doesn't get out much, is the second thing Zack notices about the man. Not even to visit his fellow SOLDIERS for a movie or to sneak booze in like Zack used to do as a fresh-faced SOLDIER hopeful. No, Cloud, much as his looks would suggest otherwise, studies. And trains. And studies some more. Makes a phone call to someone named 'Tifa' (a girlfriend maybe?). Drinks some canned coffee and maybe eats a simple, often microwaved, meal. Then Zack has to leave because the sun is close to rising. Nothing particularly thrilling, he knows, but he can't seem to get enough of the blond just going about his life and wishing he could be a part of it in some way. The mundanity of existence displayed by someone so beautiful, draws him in like a moth to flame.

The third thing Zack notices about Cloud is that he doesn’t sleep at night for some reason. _That can’t be healthy_ , he thinks. Why would anyone deprive themselves of something as wonderful as _sleep_? Zack reasons, if Shinra really is trying to push ahead with the SOLDIER program like the Turks warn, then they have to be running Cloud ragged during the day too. Despite the busy life of a killer-in-training, Cloud pries his eyes open and pours over book after book until dawn. He doesn’t even seem to enjoy it at all if the way he yawns and twitches is any indication. It confuses the hell out of Zack, but there’s nothing he can really do about it. Not without revealing himself, at any rate. That is a definite no-no he _will_ catch utter hell for from Genesis _and_ Angeal. They may not know what he’s up to yet, but stalking a vampire hunter in the heart of enemy territory is a good way to get himself taken off the AVALANCHE Initiative Rufus and Reeve are sponsoring. Zack doesn’t want to miss his shot at revenge for what the bastards have done to him and his mates, even if Cloud Strife is a wonderful little sleep-deprived temptation. At least, this is what he tells himself. Zack’s only half certain he won’t take the opportunity to talk to Cloud if it’s thrown at him.

Unfortunately, an opportunity comes a month into his new weekly routine and he’s in no way prepared for it.

Cloud loses the battle with sleep shortly after Zack's arrival outside his window, his head simply dropping down on his outstretched arm where he is seated at his desk. A light snore that Zack's exceptional hearing can pick up through the window begins emitting from him and Zack coos before he can stop himself.

 _Too cute_ , he thinks, cheeks hurting with how broadly he smiles. _Like a little chocobo chick._

It’s only after looking at his sleeping face head-on that Zack notices the deep shadows under Cloud’s eyes, bruise-like against his fair skin. Whatever is keeping him up at night must be something serious for him to risk damaging his health permanently and Zack vows to figure out what it could be as he debates tapping on the glass to wake him, if only so he won’t drool on his homework, or continuing to stare at him in longing.

Turns out, he doesn’t need to bother.

Cloud’s brow furrows and he begins to jerk in his sleep, mumbling something under his breath Zack doesn’t catch. He can see his breath is coming so fast, as though Cloud is running and his fist clenches tightly around the pen it slackened around moments before. Zack watches, fascinated. The tip of his nose hits the chilly glass of the window and he realizes he is pressing forward, trying to drink in every detail. What could Cloud be dreaming about to cause such a reaction?

Zack feels his heart stop when cornflower blue eyes snap open and meet his own.

Then it plummets in his chest as Cloud’s sleepy expression twists into one of pure terror and he lets loose a blood-curdling scream, throwing himself and his chair backwards, away from the window and sprawling onto the floor in a panicked heap.

_Time to go._

Fighting the urge to stay and check on him, Zack lets himself drop from the window. Shifting, mid-fall, his wings catch the air and he swoops around the side of Cloud’s dorm to start making his way toward Sector Five. His nerves are too wired to go home just yet, what with Cloud’s screams still ringing in his ears, and he figures he better talk to her first about it anyway. She’ll get a kick out of it, but won’t make fun of Zack for liking yet _another_ person. Especially a person he has zero business liking, as tonight has proven.

Plus, Zack is so _hungry_.

* * *

“You said you wouldn’t laugh.”

Aerith snorts into her hands, which she clamps over her face to keep her promise, but it does little to stop it.

“You just _left_ him? What if he hit his head? Oh, I’m sorry, Zack. Hey, don’t look so grumpy—”

“Better to leave then let him catch me watching him sleep. Besides, what if he _cut_ himself? I would have been through that window in seconds, Aer, and I don’t want to scare him. I mean,” Zack glanced down at his hands resting between his knees, “more than I clearly already do.”

“Well, you said it was the fourth floor. I would freak out too if someone I didn’t know was hanging outside my window,” Aerith says, finally settling back down and nudging him with her shoulder. “You should try talking to him sometime, just not while stalking him.”

“Even if he wasn’t in training to kill us, there’s no way. His face when he saw me, Aerith. He is _scared_ of me.”

“Zack,”

He meets her gaze slowly, allowing himself a small smile at her stern expression.

“I know, it’s not our fault but…he blames us, according to Rufus. His...friend does too. They aren’t wrong either. We’re monsters.”

“Hey,” Aerith says, punctuating with another nudge. “You quit that. You couldn’t have known. Besides, they don’t really know you or how great you all are.”

“So?”

“Soooo, how can they possibly pass a fair judgement on you? They can’t. They don’t know that you would never do that in ordinary circumstances.”

“You’re sure we wouldn’t?” Zack asks, raising a brow down at her playfully.

“Positive.” Aerith tells him with a confident nod, “well, maybe Gen would, but not you. You’re too sweet.”

“Oh really? What if I—” Zack growls, gently tackling her to the bed and mouthing at her neck, careful of his fangs, “—drank up all of your yummy blood right now?”

Aerith, fighting down giggles, shushes him even as she hugs him back.

“My mom, Zack,” she whispers against his temple.

“Shit, sorry.”

“You’re silly, you know that?”

“I am told at least three times a day,” Zack admits cheekily, licking her neck in earnest.

“Are you actually hungry?” Aerith asks breathily, shivering against him.

“ _Yes_.”

She swallows hard. “Just...just try not to get any on my nightgown this time, okay? Had to pretend I got a nosebleed to cover up ruining the last one.”

Zack knows he should feel worse about it, but considering the last time he’d fed from Aerith she had been a cute, moaning mess under him after several long minutes of heavy kissing, he really can’t bring himself to regret it.

“Stay still for me,” he purrs against her skin as he slowly pins her wrists on either side of her head.

Aerith does so, relaxing rather than tensing up. They are old hands at this by now, but Zack expects _some_ resistance. It does still hurt, after all. Aerith’s tougher than he is in that regard.

His fangs slide in just beneath her jaw and Aerith hisses out a breath that morphs into a low moan Zack can practically _taste_ and he growls again, extracting his teeth to suck at the punctures. Aerith’s blood is always a treat for him. He has no idea what it is, but she tastes clean. Like the purest water Zack never got to have while human. Much as he loves his colonymates and their own unique flavors, there is just something darker there. Headier. He feels out of his own head whenever he drinks from one of them and sometimes it takes a couple days to come back to himself completely. With Aerith, it’s just blood. It’s just _life,_ and it is so sweet.

Feeling Aerith’s heart beating a little faster to compensate for the loss of blood, Zack pulls off and laves the bite with his tongue to close it. Thanks to his mako-infused saliva, it will fade enough by morning that Aerith’s very protective mom will be none the wiser. He even double checks her nightgown to make sure he didn’t miss any drops.

“All clear,” he tells her cheerfully, still straddling her hips. “Thanks, babe.”

“Anytime,” she yawns.

“Aww, somebody is sleepy.” Zack nuzzles her cheek with his nose. “I’ll get out of your hair so you can rest. Make sure you eat a good breakfast for me, okay?”

“You can stay until tonight if you don’t mind hiding up here during the day.”

“I need to talk to Angeal about...well, _some_ of the stuff we talked about. Best not to wait too long or he’ll think I’m avoiding him.”

“I knew I liked him for a reason,” Aerith says, sounding already half asleep.

Instead of replying, Zack plants a chaste kiss on her mouth and sits up. Her blood is already infusing his body with energy and he leaps off her bed, silent as a cat. He pulls the covers over her to tuck her in before snagging his boots from under the bed and stuffs his socked feet back in them roughly.

“See you this weekend? My mom is going to a presentation on new fertilizing techniques a couple sectors over so we’ll have the place to ourselves for a whole night,” Aerith asks.

“Damn. Threaten me with a good time, why dontcha?”

“We gotta break in the new gag sometime.”

“Silence, temptress. Go to sleep.”

She lazily blows a raspberry at him.

“I love you too, Aerith,” Zack tells her, laughing as quietly as he can manage, “see you this weekend. I’ll text if I can’t make it.”

He crawls through her open window and makes sure to shut it behind him before taking off into the waning night.


End file.
